Robot 6

A social-media firestorm that erupted late last week urging Marvel to fire Captain America writer Rick Remender fizzled out by Sunday as the Twitter hashtag was hijacked and a Tumblr post explaining that the Falcon didn’t have drunken sex with a 14-year-old gained traction.

The controversy began shortly after the release on Wednesday of Captain America #22, which depicts Sam Wilson waking in bed next to Jet Zola (aka Jet Black), the daughter of Arnim Zola, after the two shared a little too much wine. Although Jet appears to be a prepubescent child when introduced in the first issue of Remender’s run, time passes rapidly in Dimension Z, where we’re told Steve Rogers spent at least 12 years. A rough estimation that Jet would now be in her early 20s is confirmed by a reference to her 23rd birthday during a brief flashback in the issue in question.

Perhaps some readers didn’t fully understand the timeline, or they confused Jet with her significantly young brother Ian (in fairness they did look a lot alike), and skipped over — or, in some cases, disregarded — the mention of the 23rd birthday. Whatever the case, some concluded from the three-page scene that Sam Wilson committed statutory rape.

One early and widely circulated Tumblr post, noting the many “heinous and massively harmful stereotypes there are about men of color and sexual violence,” called on outraged readers to stop buying any comics written by Remender, and to email Marvel to express their views.

Under the headline “Why Marvel needs to fire Rick Remender,” Examiner.com’s Gloria Miller dismissed the reference to Jet’s 23rd birthday as contradictory to “everything Remender has told us,” before stating that even if she were 23, “It’s still hard to ignore the fact that she’s still mentally immature and has suffered some pretty massive emotional trauma of late — not exactly a stellar example of unhindered ability to consent.”

Remender had his fair share of defenders, both on Twitter and on blogs. The Daily Dot chimed in early with, “Relax, Captain America comic fans — that Falcon rape scene never happened,” while Marvel’s Tom Brevoort offered his thoughts on the controversy on his active Formspring.

“First off, rape and the possibility of rape is an omnipresent danger for at least half of the population, and one that many people are extremely sensitive about,” he wrote in response to an anonymous question. “It’s a serious issue, and should never be taken lightly. But secondly, there are a few readers who are upset with Rick for slights real or imagined who have no compunction about misrepresenting the work he’s done in order to stir up anger among people, in the hopes of getting him fired. […] I think readers are allowed to feel however they want to about a particular title and a particular creator, and to follow or not follow that title/creator as they see fit—and even to rail against it or campaign against them if they so desire. But this sort of behavior crosses a line for me, it is a disgusting use of the very real and very emotional concerns of a great deal of the population to further an agenda that has nothing to do with the issue in question — and those doing the campaigning know it. Just leaves a bad taste around our entire community.”

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72 Comments

RD

The person who owes Rick Remender an apology is John Romita Jr, since none of this would have happened if he weren’t so FUCKING TERRIBLE at drawing children – Which is remarkable given that so much of the last seven years of his career have been devoted to it.

Glenn Simpson

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I can’t believe this was controversial. Everything in the scene emphasizes the adulthood and consensual nature of the encounter. One thinks the outrage stems from other issues that the outraged aren’t copping to, be it issues of race, gender, or mere sexuality.

Baka-akab

Mo Walker

This is ridiculous. There have been numerous instances in DC and Marvel comics in which characters are aged then have sex with someone. Hello Layla Miller and Jamie Madrox! Cable and Domino! Magneto was de-aged then re-aged. Afterwards he had numerous sexual relationships. People really really need to think about what they post online before they start accusing people of crimes.

John Zee

First of all to this day there are still plenty of male and female fans that rightfully take issue with Green Lantern Arisia’s rapid aging shift within the span of a few issue from a young teenager Hal Jordan treated like a younger kid sister to a woman he felt no absolutely no compunction bumping uglies with on a regular basis. Glad to know Marvel’s has coordinated damge control when it comes to these thing, but if it is acceptable for one for similar technicalities, then it should be acceptable for both.

Second. Who the heck do you think you are kidding? The key problem here is once again Remender is visually showing that African American men, even the most heroic, are highly susceptible to their own overly sexually aggressive nature. CBR has a preview on their site of Sam Jackson/Nick Fury-Lite interrogating Jet and the same exact point is right there in black and white.

Make no mistake, this line of thinking that Remender repeatedly comes back to has serious and unmistakable racist overtones.

Wallace Ryan

Scott

Ti

I think calling for his firing is a little over the top and silly… but I really wish someone would get a grasp on Remender’s personal politics. Outside of his “M-word” speech in Uncanny Avengers, he linked the Roma Bloodline to a religious group, and he hasn’t written a single story in years that was not driven by the death of a female character… the guy’s got issues, but whenever fans raise an eyebrow over it we are told we’re being unruly fans. Its unfair. Remender has been an endless stream of racial prejudice and misogyny criticisms, at what point does it stop being fan outrage and a legitimate complaint about one of the top creators in the industry?

Steven Simmons

All of these people are idiots looking to make a name for themselves being social justice warriors when they are simply crying wolf and they know it. No, it does not matter than JRJR’s art was subpar in that first arc for Captain America as the evidence is there in the dialogue. I’m also tired of people who don’t make the industry better simply trying to bring it down a peg.

Jose Salas

The fact that actual members of the comic book industry stood behind this is reprehensible, and it speaks to the intentions of those crying foul. To disregard the story in an effort to create scandalous attention, all while calling for a resignation is no small slight. Remender doesn’t need an apology, just industry peers who won’t make it a personal mission to slander other creators.

Orin

Crap like this is why I’ve come to hate the Internet Comic Community so much and have mostley withdrawn myself from it!

People just obsess over the tinest things and make way too big of a deal out of it. Seriously, I’ve rarely seen so many petty people who blow so many things out of proportion.

Instead of actually sharing their views about the stories they read (which most people on the net don’t even seem to do anymore before they pass judgement), it’s just looking for something that could be taken out of context, interpreted in a non-politically correct kind of way and made into a big scandal. Weather it’s a meaninless little comment a writer makes in an interview, a cover drawing or some throw away phase a character uses, it’s hardely ever something substantial.

But sadly, as a result, to avoid bad PR, Comic Book Creators have to be so f’n oversensitive about what they do that their stuff sometimes feels like this clinical, overly politically correct product, instead of something they can use to express themselfs, something that can be enjoyed by people who don’t think the moral future of the world is dependent on a Comic Book Panel…

demoncat_4

as the issue stated jet was in a dimension where time moved fast for captain america aged too. plus seem to recall the same up roar minus wanting to get the writter fired over at dc when the writters of green lantern had hal and arrisa in a romance since arissa was in earth years still a young teen even though she like jet aged faster. for don’t think marvel would be the crazy to go totaly dark and okay a story about having one of their characters commit rape . and thus wreck the character.

Kuwagachan

That one person brings up Sam’s race in a call to boycott a comic and fire its writer in direct response to an interracial sex scene between two consenting adults that wasn’t explicitly depicted. The irony is fantastic.

John Zee

Kuwagachan, I don’t think anyone under the age of 79 would have a bit of problem with an interracial sex scene. There’s no controversy there. Even if there was, far less than what a same sex, sex scene would generate to most people’s sensibilities.

The myth of the overly sexually aggressive African American is a cornerstone of Eugenics. Look it up sometimes. Just a tad more controversial that interracial sex, visually depicted or not.

ogstarwars

The only shame I see is that these illiterate, overly emotional, reactionary morons didn’t get Remender fired. If he would have been fired, then maybe I wouldn’t have to wait until September to get the latest issue of the dude’s real masterpiece of work in Deadly Class from Image. Now that book has plenty for the pantie waistes to cry about and it is one of the best comic writing out there, now. Just an interesting group of characters and great world he has dreamed up there.

Kari

What the hell is wrong with you people? Even if it had been clear from the start that she was 23 (which it was not, birthday or no birthday, she was drawn as looking ~6 “11 years ago”), Sam Wilson would still never fuck someone while both of them were blackout drunk. And, yes, Sam’s race is fucking relevant, since racists have been using the stereotype of black men raping white women as a tool to oppress persons of color (of both genders) for centuries.

And more than that, I am so goddamn frustrated that every time a woman (or someone with a feminine-sounding handle) criticizes a comic book or comic creator, the internet starts pulling the ‘fake geek girl’ bullshit. How many comics do I have to read before my dollar becomes as green as some dude’s dollar? Ten? A hundred? A thousand? How many hours of work do I need to put into cosplay to wear to conventions before I count as a whole fan? Is my “fan-ness” contingent upon how many variant covers I have? By how many creators’ signatures I’ve collected? Or will it always be “less” just because I’m a woman?

(The previous is a rhetorical question, obviously. The answer, as evidenced by all the discussion surrounding this comic, is ‘yes.’)

SL

It’s nice to know that of all the money we have spent on this series over the years is completely irrelevant if we happen to have tits. A+ job on reenforcing the fact that it doesn’t matter how many years and how many decades we have been reading comic books, women are not wanted and are not allowed.

phillcalle

Am I the only one who thinks that the Falcon was possibly drugged and raped? Jet is the daughter of Emile Zola, and she makes a point of liking the “effect” of the wine, which had been given to her by her dad. I think that it’s more likely that she drugged him than the Falcon drinking so much (not just a shared bottle of wine) that he blacks out.

ell

dudes are literally ruining comics. lmao ur complaining about complaints, all the while harassing the few people who make comics worth anything. it’s distasteful all the while being grossly hilarious. sexist little shits own everything, as always.

god this thread is unbeliavle. women are a huge part of your fanbase. we pay for your books. we keep it afloat.

shaking my damn head

Malthus

Honestly, Falcon has always been a swingin’ bachelor. But this is a little overstepping. Cap has taken responsibility for Jet in this new world. Her mental and emotional development. Falcon would betray Cap like that? Especially after the very recent traumas she’s experienced? It’s just low. And if Falcon isn’t the bad guy then the only other way to read it is that SHE seduced HIM. Which goes from racist to sexist with a side of racism and really is no better. Remender did a LOUSY job establishing the age of her character and Romita’s art aside, I truly thought she was a teenager this entire time and was a little irked at Marvel for having her run around fighting crime in a tube top and booty shorts. She was fairly clearly depicted as age 4-6 when Cap rescues Ian. At best she’d be 18. Fury in her interrogation says she shouldn’t waste adults time. She’s treated as a child. Her character has been a mess from day one. Why do some writers/artists believe that superpowers always makes women want to run around naked? And before anybody says “her powers require her skin to be exposed” just understand that the CREATIVE TEAM decided to make that so. Her powers could work any which way they chose. I also don’t like this depiction of Falcon. It’s irresponsible, pretty out of character that he’d sleep with Cap’s charge, and complete BS that she’s in her twenties. I don’t like the character Jet. She’s a perpetual victim who always needs a man’s approval and has been unnecessarily sexualized at the detriment of the story. I know most people are just pissed about Sharon being dead and I don’t like that Sharon is dead either but that I can forgive as a creative choice. Not every comic death should have a huge epic send off. That’d be bad writing. But certainly there are tones of racism and misogyny to Remender’s writing that can’t be ignored.

Arden

No, this isn’t part of some larger liberal PC conspiracy, and has a lot more to do with Tumblr and the blogging culture.

Yes, people are overly sensitive when it comes to these things, but I’ve seen that on both sides of the political fence. Not everything has to be politicized, and I’m tired of that way more than the whole PC issue (which is barely an issue at all).

No, neither side is interested in destroying or ruining the allegedly struggling comics industry.

No, this isn’t gender politics or racist, because people of all races and genders have, historically, gotten drunk and had sex before. It happens!

No, anyone who is a comic book fan can not possibly be called a “fake geek.” (a no true scotsman argument at it’s finest)

No, Rick Remender isn’t endorsing statutory rape, or suggesting black people do that more often. Seriously, it’s kind of really racist to make that assumption.

No, this has very little to do with feminism, and the issues of comics and women. People on Tumblr and elsewhere tried to frame it that way, but Marvel is actually doing better than ever depicting women in an intelligent way, and they deserve praise, not harassment. Also, anyone who uses the non-word “Femin-nazi” needs to STFU and learn about real Nazis. Because that’s offended me more than anything else today.

This last issue was only the straw that broke the camel’s back for a lot of fans. Even if Jet was always meant to be in her 20s (which for many was quite the surprise, I’ve heard many different people describe her as a teenager for the past year, that her entire arc has been framed as teenage rebellion), there is still the issue that the sex scene involved characters getting drunk, which already brings question to how consensual it really was. The fact that they had to SPELL OUT her age right on the page before they had sex already tells the writer knew that people were confused about her age. The sex never had to happen. The absolute very least he and the editor could do is admit that they messed up by being unclear throughout the run on that account.

Basically, the only thing that people behind this protest ask for is to have our concerns addressed as legitimate, to not be dismissed and belittled as hysterical “social justice warriors” or “fake geek girls”. We don’t like being told that our voices don’t matter. We don’t like being threatened for having different opinions on what makes a good story. We don’t like COMIC PROFESSIONALS dismissing the concerns of a large chunk of their readership

DJHu781

Sorry to burst your bubble, adults consume wine and then have sex. It happens literally ALL. THE. TIME. If that’s upsetting to you I’m assuming your under the age of 16 and/or are too stupid to read the words that Remender has been writing for the past 20 issues. I mean seriously people, have you ever been to college?

Andy Synn

Wow, I feel bad for Sam. He can’t even have a nice evening with an attractive woman without catching shit for it.

Or, wait, should I feel bad for Jett because apparently she also can’t spend an evening with a man she finds attractive without being judged for it.

See… here’s how I read it. Two adults (and Jett wasn’t RAPIDLY aged… she lived all those years. The timeline and story is pretty clear about that) had an evening together. They had sex. Yes, they also had something to drink the night before… because adults can do that.

I actually already foresaw a potential relationship between Jett and Sam… but even if it isn’t… can we stop judging either character for something that consenting adults do every day? If these were real people it would be despicable enough to be trying to shame them for it… the fact that it’s basically spelled out in the comic that both are old enough, and happy to have sex (even if, SHOCK, alcohol was also involved!) would seem pretty obvious to me.

Zach

I find it darkly hilarious how many people are still ignorant of the fact that men can get raped. How so many supposedly progressive and feminist people can look at a scene of a woman getting a man black out drunk and sleeping with him while he’s under the influence and call the victim a rapist is beyond me.

winteriscoming

Marcus

It takes moments like that to get Remender fired, but not all the other moments and titles he written to Marvel so far ?

I mean even Jason Aaron or Grant Morrison does things a tad worse and you don’t see them not getting fired.

I mean I can understand the situation, but if Marvel isn’t willing to fire the likes of Aaron and Bendis, despite the problems surrounding some of their work, then we can be sure that sadly, Remender isn’t getting the boot.

SL

Zach, what this article ignores is the fact that many of the people expressing anger over this issue are angry because Sam was basically date raped – however if Jet was underaged, in the eyes of the legal system Sam could be convicted of statutory rape. This entire scene should have never been green-lighted by Marvel. Even if Remender had done a proper job establishing Jet’s age prior to this issue, many readers would be upset or uncomfortable over what was done to Sam.

hashcheck

” Sam Wilson would still never fuck someone while both of them were blackout drunk.”

Nobody would fuck anybody while he or she was blackout drunk, because “blackout drunk” means you’re unconscious.

My reading of the scene is that Sam was attracted to her, but hadn’t acted on the attraction due to her being a work acquaintance (see his line about “workplace romance”). They were stressed following the fight with the Iron Nail, Jet poured some wine, and one thing led to another. He initially regrets it, but doesn’t push her away either.

There’s nothing there to get truly upset over unless you’re bringing something else into the discussion with you. If you don’t like Jet, that’s fair, but that’s not enough to start a campaign to fire the writer.

Jet’s age is stated to be somewhere north of 23. I can understand that being confusing due to how JRjr drew Jet in the first issue of the volume, but given subsequent issues and JRjr’s body of work, I don’t find it hard to believe that she’s meant to be eleven in that scene.

This isn’t about “fake geek girls,” to my mind, so much as it’s about the reactionary, thoughtless, and majority-female Tumblr population, many of whom are clearly reacting to the scene based upon someone else’s account of it and not actually reading the issue in question, and who are dragging other issues into the discussion in a blatant attempt to avoid having to admit they’re wrong. I find myself wondering how many are simply annoyed by the presentation of a female love interest for Sam, since Winter Soldier seems to have ignited the Steve/Sam “shippers” in a big way.

I can understand people getting upset that the Falcon had drunk sex with Jet because you could make a strong argument that it was out of character for Sam Wilson to do that (although considering how much his personality has been screwed with over the years by various writers you might be on slightly shaky grounds).

I can also understand people getting upset that the Falcon had drunk sex with Jet because Rick Rememder and/or the artists did not do an adequate job of previously establishing that she is of the age of consent.

However, I can NOT understand people getting upset that the Falcon had drunk sex with Jet because it is a stereotype that black men in general have drunk sex, so therefore Remender is turning Sam Wilson into a sterotype. God help us if Remender is actually writing the Falcon as an individual, and not as a flawless pargon of virtue who represents the very best qualities of African Americans everywhere.

This is the same sort of overly PC garbage that had people going “Magneto cannot be said to Jewish because he is a villain and a mutant supremecist, and therefore he makes all Jews look bad by acting like a Nazi.” As a Jew I found that incredibly offensive. I guess that me and my fellow Jews have to be protected from fictional Jewish characters who possess any sort of character flaws, lest our delicate sensibilities be hurt.

There are good and bad people in every race, relgion, enthicity, gender, sexual orientation, etc. And everyone has flaws and moments of weakness.

(I’m probably going to catch hell for this!)

Dlonzo73

Dave Artman

To me, the more embarrassing element is the tired cliche of a man (and/or woman, or whoever) drinking so much as to black out, yet somehow still able to have sex, then waking up the next morning next to their sexual partner, still (initially) oblivious. It’s bad writing when they do it on television, and it’s bad writing here.

Greg

That scene looks more like Falcon getting date-raped than vice versa. Even if it’s not all the way to rape, pressuring someone to drink who wants to stop drinking and then having sex with them while they’re drunk is a shitty way to behave.

Richard Estrada

Irena B

People don’t want Remender fired just for this one panel. This panel is the latest in a series of terrible storytelling decisions. Remender is an awful writer who is killing the brand, and these comics’ decreasing sales are proof of that.

Rick Mease

Ugh…I can say that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Remender’s run on Uncanny X-Force and am currently head over heels in love with Uncanny Avengers. His 22 issues of Cap have been very enjoyable as well. These are two of my can’t miss books every month and I’ve trouble finding anything offensive, neither racist or lewd in nature in any of his stuff I’ve read. People need to put their big girl panties on and stop trying to invoke controversy,. Don’t like it? Don’t buy the book! Nothing to see here people!

Vex

What a ridiculous shitstorm you sad little people create when something is not exactly how YOU think it should be…or people do not react the way YOU want them to react.

Rick Remender is a terrible writer?
Tell that to the thousands of people who read Sea of Red, Deadly Class, The End League, Fear Agent, Strange Girl…among hundreds of other titles…and enjoyed the hell out of them.
How many of you have gotten off your asses and computers and written something anyone cares about?
My guess is…none of you…ever.
So continue to sit in your glass houses and throw ignorance-filled rocks.

This is a clear case of: “I need a social media cause I can gripe about because it’s a slow, after-holiday Monday.”
Pathetic, garbage opinions…screaming sexism and racism….inventing rape where there is none, etc.
Are you developmentally disabled children?
Learn about suspension of disbelief and social commentary.
Or honestly…don’t.
Please, just stop reading comics, and get off the internet…because you’re helping NO ONE.

Filipe

This kind of controversy is sparkled only by stupid people, eager to force censorship upon others, dying to impose their twisted interpretation of facts upon artists. Comics are not meant to those who lack the proper IQ to understand the medium for what it is. Period. Marvel has no business listening to them. Remender is great.

Rios

After reading the issue if anything Jet Black boarderline takes advantage of Falcon. So I do not get why people would be mad at Sam when it was her who was in the wrong. Her age has been a mystery from the get go and knowing Remender and his grim dark BS he loves so much they will touch on this.

At the end of the day this was just shitty writing and poorly thought out. With that said nothing to freak out about. No one will remember this in 6 months just like no one will remember Remenders run on Cap once its over.

Michael P

Lorrie

I haven’t read a single issue of Remender’s Captain America and I knew that Jet should be an adult by now since Cap raised Ian in that Dimension Whatever for many years, and Jet was several years older than Ian. And I knew that just from reading the recaps of the issues. People just can’t read properly, that’s all there is to it. It’s embarrassing, honestly.

bad chak

Ienjoycomics

I have never, ever posted before. Just read them. But, this situation is ridiculous. All of you people offended by this scene are way off base and sound like you don’t enjoy these comics. If you don’t, stop reading them. Or, better yet, make your own. But, SL and the rest of you, quit your way off base remarks. Go find a hobby you like and quit tearing down this one. This run of Cap is one of the best ever. The first arc was epic and everything since has also been good, in my opinion. Which, I grant, means very little. Falcon and Jet hooked up, good for them. It wasn’t rape or down on women or black men at all. It was 2 people getting together. I read it and thought, hmm, wonder where they will go. I don’t get my misinformed undies in a bundle..SL. Go be a comic fan, that’s awesome. Been reading since ’89 and the more the merrier. I don’t like empty conventions. Please though, just shut up about all your crap on these sites. It’s no big deal, quit making it one.

Michael S

This is so stupid. Jet was an adult, a consenting adult. Her age was NEVER concretely stated before this issue. Her profile on Marvel.com says “an adult female” in the FIRST SENTENCE. She initiated it, they were two consenting adults, so I’m not seeing the problem here. As for alcohol being involved, that may have made it ill-advised and embarrassing for Falcon, but not criminal or immoral.

Fred Jay

How did the M-word speech in Uncanny Avengers indicated that Remender has “issues”? I thought it was a character giving the speech. Other characters disagreed with it in the same series. Even if they didn’t do that, it doesn’t mean that it’s the view of the writer but rather what the writer thought the character would say in that situation. When the Red Skull gives a hateful speech do you feel i implies the author believes this too?

Remender did indeed have a character call the Roma ethnic group a religion, but that sounded a lot more like ignorance than malicious stereotyping. It should be called out and people should be educated for sure, but again, reading into the author’s intentions (that he is a bigot?) is a slippery slope. I believe Marvel admitted it was an offensive screw up…

And I believe Remender’s most famous storyline, the one from Uncanny X-Force that made his career at Marvel, “The Dark Angel Saga”, was not at all driven by the death of a female character. But feel free to generalize.

So yes, it sounds like misplaced fan outrage to me and not an endless stream of racial prejudice and misogyny. Glad you’re not calling for his firing at least.

Ghatanathoah

I think there should be a call for firing anyone who tries to get someone else fired for publishing or saying something that offends them.

All the arguments about why we should stop the government from restricting free speech are also valid when considering whether or not we should stop private citizens from attempting to restrict free speech.

There’s something I’d like to do if I wasn’t broke: If someone gets someone else fired, or otherwise harmed, for the crime of saying something offensive, I would donate money to a cause the people who called for the firing oppose. It doesn’t matter if I agree with the cause or not. It doesn’t matter if it ended up being contradictory. For instance, if someone gets fired for supporting gay marriage I’d donate to a cause supporting gay marriage, if someone gets fired for opposing gay marriage I’d donate to a cause opposing it.

If you write a bad story you get a bad review. If you make a bad argument you get a counterargument. You do not get fired. You do not get harassed. Period.

Catman Scratches

When a comic is produced, it doesn’t just go from writer to print. It goes through several approval/editorial processes, none of which said this wasn’t ok to print. So if there’s a call to fire Remender, you may as well fire everyone else at Marvel, too, who let this go to print.

I had to read the page several times to understand what the big deal was, especially since she EXPLICITLY SAYS that she’s older than 23.

Duh.

Victor

This whole outrage was ludicrous. It’s obviously an encounter between two consenting adults. Where is the rape? Really people, Marvel is a Disney owned company! You think Disney is going to let them publish a rape scene?

Daniel Frost

I am not a reader of Captain America. But I just wanted to mention that it is quite interesting that Remender’s writing is always surrounded by these shitstorms…after the whole “m-word” debacle, I wouldn’t touch his comics if someone would pay me to read his “white supremacist shit”!

“where there’s smoke, there’s fire!” just saying…

bringo

I think the whole thing is really out of character with Jet. In a few issues prior when the agent of the Red Skull tries to recruit her in the restaurant, she tells the guy she doesn’t ingest poison, referring to the alcohol, he offered her. Then all the sudden is like sharing wine with Falcon… That’s the part it confuses me.